Tough Guy, Soft Heart
by FlowerofAdversity
Summary: Focusing on Joey and Tea... -


Tough Guy, Soft Heart  
  
Note: This is my first Yu-Gi-Oh fan fiction. Unlike the actual plot of the anime, this tale has little if no significance to the duels, but pays more attention to two of my favorite characters, Joey-kun and Tea.  
  
"Love comes in many shapes and sizes. No matter what package love arrives in, it will always come as a surprise."—Unknown  
  
"Tell me how can I walk away ? I don't care what they say. I'm loving you anyway, it's the way you make me feel."—Some lyrics from Steps 'It's The Way You Make Me Feel'  
  
Chapter 1—Around the Campfire  
  
Yugi and his friends were taking a break from dueling by relaxing in the peace and tranquility of the forest. The four friends were saddened by Kaiba's decision to leave them after rescuing Mokuba from Pegasus' clutches. But, that was his decision and the four had no right to dissuade him from leading an existence of paranoia, loneliness, lies, dissention, dissatisfaction and emptiness. Thoughts drifted from Kaiba to more pleasant thoughts.  
After a long day filled with hiking, river rafting, scavenger hunts and bird watching, the four friends were exhausted. Bakura, Yugi and Joey searched for kindling to begin building a fire to roast hotdogs and marshmallows. After the fire was built, Tea had already gotten the food out as well as a grill she managed to bring with her just in case. She grilled some burgers for everyone. She could then enjoy her own meal, and listened as Yugi and the others spun a yarn about a cursed pirate ship. The sun began to set, and everyone was exhausted from a fun-filled day and a satisfying meal. Yugi, Bakura, Joey and Tea had enjoyed their delightful desert of s'mores and drifted into a deep sleep under the stars. Tea had not gone to sleep yet. She stared up at the stars, tracing out the constellations she knew by heart one by one. Then, she looked at Joey. Joey was in such a deep sleep that he was snoring slightly. Tea suppressed an amused snicker and heard him talking in his sleep. It seemed that he was having a nightmare about saving Tea from some sort of impending danger. Tea was concerned for her friend, wanting to soothe him. She quietly walked over to him and sat down beside him, placing her hand upon his shoulder. "They can't take you from me ! I won't let them ! No...No, let me go ! Tea, I will rescue you !", Joey shouted, struggling in his sleeping bag. His brow was fevered with sweat. Tea began to speak to him. "Joey, wake up. It's just a nightmare. I'm safe.", she whispered, gently. Suddenly, Joey awoke, slightly startled. "Oh, thank goodness. It was all a bad dream.", Joey said, softly blushing at the sight of Tea's radiant face enhanced by the soft glowing moonlight. "He really does care about me ! Why couldn't I see it earlier ? I've never seen Joey like this before...", Tea mused to herself. "The stars are lovely tonight, aren't they ?", Joey questioned, unexpectedly clasping Tea's hand in his. Tea found herself blushing as well. "They're dazzling, Joey. But I was thinking about the future. Will Yugi ever rescue his grandfather ? Pegasus has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. With that Millenium Eye, there is nothing he can't see. In fact, I can imagine he is preparing for his next duel against Yugi.", Tea stated, eyes narrowing in frustration when she mentioned Pegasus. Pegasus was like a brat prince, having his way with everyone in his mammoth palace, dining on the finest foods and the best grape wine. He had to have a weakness though. Kaiba was close to unveiling that weakness, but Pegasus didn't seem rattled by Kaiba's victory. Pegasus had something diabolical planned, but worrying about it wouldn't be beneficial for the group. Joey held Tea close around her waist and smiled brilliantly. "We all know that punk Pegasus has something planned, but you know that unlike myself, Yugi has the brains to take whatever Pegasus can throw at him.", Joey reassuringly answered. Tea nodded. "Yes, but Joey...You're quite intelligent yourself.", Tea responded, chuckling. Joey turned a darker shade of red. "That's what I admire about you, Tea. You're always standing up for me. You and the others are always behind me. And to think, if I hadn't become interested in the Dueling Game to begin with...I would've never met you...", Joey said, his mahogany eyes sparkling. Tea looked into Joey's eyes, seeing Joey's true colors. On the outside, he was a tough guy, with a tough attitude, but when it came to his heart, his heart was pure gold. Joey didn't have to say one word more to let Tea know how much he cared. Tea had been afraid to express her feelings to him before, but she really did love him. She took his face gently into her hands and planted a huge, tender kiss upon his lips. Joey's expression was transcendent, nearly intoxicated. "Now that's what I call a kiss...Wow !", Joey said, rather flabbergasted. Tea laughed heartily, but quietly enough as to not wake up anyone. Joey kissed her in return, passionately, yet gently. "I love you, Tea. I don't want anything to separate us. Promise me that we'll be together no matter what.", Joey said, caressing Tea's silken cheek. He held her chin between his thumb and forefinger, noticing how adorable and beautiful she was with a blush upon her pretty face. "I promise, Joey-kun. And to be honest, I love you also.", Tea said, resting her head upon Joey's heart. Joey stroked Tea's hair softly and sighed blissfully as Tea went to sleep nestled so cutely in his arms.  
  
Chapter 2—Friends Even In Spirit  
  
Bakura was the first to awaken and was shocked at what he saw. He lightly shook the shoulders of Joey to rouse him from sleep and Joey in turn, nudged Tea in the ribs to wake her. "Come look at this...It seems that Yugi has gone to Pegasus' Castle alone. ", Bakura said, his tone extremely concerned. Bakura held a small piece of paper in front of Joey's face. "It says, ' I know you are probably wondering why I have gone to Pegasus' Castle without informing you earlier. This is a test I must face alone. But, you are always beside me. I will be able to hear you cheering me on. Think of me when I am in the arena with Pegasus. I have a feeling that I will finally be able to release Grandfather from his clutches. Your prayers will continue to keep me strong in this endeavor. Don't worry about me, we'll be spending summer together as always. You can count on that.'", Bakura read, smiling demurely. "Yug, what a guy. Always putting others ahead of himself.", Joey said, with a nostalgic look in his eyes. There was a pause, and then Bakura stated the obvious. "I guess this means we're on our own to find our way back home .", Bakura said, with a sorrowful look in his eyes. "No, we're going to stick together. We need each other, Bakura. When Yug returns, we'll give him a hero's welcome. Let's get going ! We're not gonna get anywhere unless we start moving now !", Joey said, with passion and conviction. "Brilliant idea, Joey.", Bakura agreed. Lugging their camping supplies over their shoulders, the four began hiking through the forest and into the city of Tokyo in the far horizon.  
  
Chapter 3—A Hero's Welcome  
  
Pegasus' plans had gone down in flames. He passed his legacy on to Kaiba, who was now so corrupt by his own conquest for power that he was a perfect candidate to make Pegasus' dream of world domination, known as the best Duelist in the world. Yugi had returned home, as his counterpart Yu- Gi-Oh with his Grandfather right beside him. Both had the same winsome, spectacular smiles on their faces, and brightness in their eyes as to say, "Anything is possible through the power of love and friendship...For they are the ultimate good in this world." Bakura and the others had recently enjoyed Tokyo's popular summer festival and had come with the rest of Yugi's fans to welcome him and his grandfather. Tea was the first to embrace Yu-Gi-Oh, followed by Bakura and Joey. The three lifted him up and cheered for him. Yugi's grandfather kept up pace behind the three as hordes of fans followed as well. The festivities were immense, there had never been quite so many people in the streets of Tokyo before, but Yugi Moto was so called by the Japanese Press, "Japan's Hero".  
  
Yu-Gi-Oh transformed into his normal self, but even though he was back to his normal self, swarms of screaming girls surrounded Yugi's house begging for autographs, pictures, interviews and more. Fortunately, in costume, he could escape the fans and enjoy an evening of dance arcade and karaoke. Yugi was certainly the "King of Games". He was scoring up some high points in the dance arcade, almost better than Joey. But Joey had some suave, slick moves of his own, and they broke a tie at the end of the 3rd round. Joey won a stuffed UFO catcher for his sweetheart Tea from a Bear Claw Machine, and she showered him with sugary kisses and loving hugs. Joey adored this kind of attention, and he could see himself with Tea 5 years from now. He might even possibly marry her then, an idea that caused him to sigh involuntarily. "Joey-kun...Come look at this ! Bakura and Yugi are really going at it.", Tea said, tenderly pulling Joey along to a new fighting arcade game. Bakura seemed to have the upper hand at the time, but Yugi, as usual came back at full force. "Bada-bing ! That's Yugi for ya !", Joey said, slapping Yugi's back briskly. Yugi smiled broadly at Joey's praise. The four of them laughed together and cheered their many years of friendship together. As the four left the Arcade, they shared ice cream together as they had always done when they were younger. Friendship had held the four together, and friendship had made them stronger, just as it would continue to in their adult lives.  
  
The End  
  
By: Elizabeth Berndt June 2, 2002 


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